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ACORN members who disrupted meeting banned from City Hall
ACORN members including its co-founder and a resident of Barton House have been banned from City Hall for six months.
In a letter sent on Thursday to four members of the community union, Bristol City Council’s director of legal and democratic services banned them from the building formerly known as the Council House until July.
ACORN’s Bristol branch Shaban Ali, currently living in the Holiday Inn next to the Bearpit following the evacuation of Barton House, told Bristol24/7 that this decision “chips away at my belief in democracy”.
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The letter from Tim O’Gara said that the behaviour of protesters at a full council meeting on December 12 “caused harassment, alarm and distress to citizens, Bristol City Council staff and councillors”.
O’Gara added that “this behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated”.
It comes after Bristol24/7 exclusively revealed that security measures are set to be beefed up at council meetings at City Hill in the new year and that ACORN members could be banned from meetings.
That move followed the recent disturbances in the council chamber including Marvin Rees being confronted by protesters during a break in December’s full council meeting.
Marvin Rees and former labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell pose with an ACORN banner in 2016 – photo: Bristol24/7
ACORN-co-founder Nick Ballard – one of the union’s members now banned from City Hall until July 5, when O’Gara says the decision will be reviewed – once counted Rees as a close ally.
Rees even posed with an Acorn banner in 2016 when he was campaigning to become Bristol mayor.
Ballard, who now lives in Sheffield, also featured in a series of videos produced by Global Goals to mark the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Rees’ register of interests includes payment from 17 Rooms, an organisation described as “an experimental method for advancing the economic, social, and environmental priorities embedded in the world’s SDGs”.
After posting the letter on Twitter, Ballard tweeted: “Rattled much? This is what happens when you hold @MarvinJRees to account.
“Needless to say I’ve had no reply as to how this restriction is justified with reference to Articles 10 & 11 of the ECHR. This is what desperation looks like.”
Ali added: “Every decision made by the council under Mayor Marvin Rees chips away at my belief in democracy.
“As both ACORN Bristol’s branch secretary and a resident of Barton House, these decisions hit close to home, affecting me personally and disrupting my secretarial duties.
“With a residents meeting scheduled for January 10th, where we eagerly await the survey results, I find myself wondering about the practicalities of this decision and whether its legally binding?
“Also how will I receive these survey results? Will the council write to me and make the survey public? It makes me question if they’ve considered these questions before making this decision.”
Main photo: Rob Browne
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